Planning ahead and ADHD. Two things that just don’t seem to mesh. Here’s why:
According to AttitudeMag.com, "The ADHD brain is inherently unable to anticipate and plan for the future, which typically manifests in two ways: people with ADHD often have a very short time horizon and they engage in what’s called temporal discounting.”
If you feel like diving into that rabbit hole and learning more about the FASCINATING theory of time horizon and ADHD, you can check out that article HERE. A simpler way to explain this though, is that most of us with ADHD are time blind on some level. Imagine trying to plan for the future without really being able to quantify how far away that really is. That’s what we’re up against.
Because of time blindness, we’re often not able to estimate how long things will take or what those tasks might really entail. Yet another reason that planning and ADHD are NOT two peas in a pod. Check out my previous article about Time Blindness HERE.
Planning is a critical executive functioning skill - and essentially, ADHD is an executive function deficit disorder (EFDD).
So, what can we do about this conundrum?
Brain Dumps - Try keeping your list of to-dos all in the same place. Save one notebook strictly for all of these items and schedule a time each morning to look back through your notes. Out-of-sight, out-of-mind is a thing for us and it’s important to refer back to what the heck you wrote down the day before, or even the week before
Body Doubling - I can’t recommend this enough. I was recently introduced to FocusMate and I’m a big fan. Apps like FocusMate provide a space for co-working sessions to help you get things done, with a buddy! 10/10 recommend
Find a planner that works for you - But also… don’t beat yourself up if you’ve tried one system and it was a flop. Be open to using new tools as often as needed.
A few planners that were recommended most often within the My Lady ADHD community:
Sunsama - This is the planner that I use most often and it was recommended by LOTS of people within the ADHD community (which is why I started using it in the first place)
Monday - an all-in-one work management platform that I find to be pretty ADHD-friendly/easy to get started
Passion Planner - This one is for all of the lovers of paper planners. I’m right there with you.
Silk & Sonder - Again, another paper planner that was highly recommended
Notion - a single space where you can think, write, and plan
